Page 78 - Plastics News August 2024

TECHNOLOGY NEWS
a single-stream MRF’s container line, uses tem-
porary storage bunkers and conveyors laid out
in loops to carry mixed containers through the
same AI-powered optical sorter and robotic unit
multiple times. With each pass, the computer
can automatically reprogram the equipment to
pull out a different commodity, until the PET, nat-
ural HDPE, color HDPE, PP and aluminum cans
have all been removed. Or the system can target
one valuable commodity during multiple passes,
to ensure high capture rates.
With the circular layout, the robotic and optical
sorter can do the work of several units, without
the need for human QC, according to BHS.
Around and around it goes
Brooks, who is based at BHS’ optical sorter and
robotics facility in Nashville, Tenn., explained that
the mixed containers first pass under an AQC-2
dual-arm robot, which pulls out fiber and other
contaminants. This robot’s visioning system also
analyzes the composition of the stream, gather-
ing data that allows the autonomous system to
decide how to best sort the material.
After passing through the first QC robot, the
mixed containers then enter a temporary stor-
age bunker. When the bunker is full, the comput-
er releases the material from the bunker and a
80 PLASTICS NEWS
conveyor carries it to an optical sorter equipped
with an AI visioning system and near-infrared
detection. If the optical sorter is programmed to
remove PET, for example, then the ejected PET
goes to another AQC-2 dual-arm robot to fur-
ther clean the PET stream. After that, the clean
PET goes into a bunker (or bunkers, depending
on how much material the computer sees in the
stream and how many bunkers it decides to al-
locate for the plastic), before baling.
In this scenario, the mixed containers that
weren’t ejected by the optical sorter – essen-
tially everything other than PET – are conveyed
back to the temporary storage bunker, before
the computer releases them for another pass
through the sorting equipment. If, for example,
the value of PET is particularly high and the MRF
operator wants to ensure all of it is captured,
the computer could give the optical sorter an-
other pass to pull out any PET that was missed
on the first try. Or the system could move on to
the next most plentiful commodity in the stream.
The first system sold to the Canadian MRF is lo-
cated in a province with a bottle deposit pro-
gram. As a result, the second AQC-2 robot won’t
just be pulling contaminants out; it will also sepa-
rate deposit containers, Brooks said.
The system can sort 6.5 tons per hour, and be-
cause no human sorters are needed, it can run
almost 24/7, with only one or two hours a day
needed for maintenance, Brooks said.
“The beauty of this is it’s set up to run continu-
ously, independent of what your manpower re-
sources are,” he said.
Building blocks to autonomy
Brooks said the system was only made possible
by technological advances over the years. “We
August 2024